CABINET OFFICE

Government Whips Office

Jim Murphy: My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister has made the following Machinery of Government change with immediate effect. The offices of the House of Commons and House of Lords Chief Whips will transfer from the Cabinet Office to the Privy Council Office. There will be no change in function or location of the Whips' Offices. The change comes about as part of a review being conducted by Sir Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, into the role and functions of the Cabinet Office.

Spring Supplementary Estimate 2005–06

Jim Murphy: Subject to Parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Cabinet Office DEL will be decreased by £3,150,000 from £226,144,000 to £222,994,000. The administration costs limits will be decreased by £3,570,000 from £199,401,000 to £195,831,000.
	Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table.
	
		
			New DEL 
			 £'000 Change Voted Non-voted Total 
		
		
			 Resource -3,150 222,994 0 222,994 
			 Capital -1,687 23,313 0 23,313 
			 Depreciation* 0 -37,338 0 -37,338 
			 Total -4,837 208,969 0 208,969 
		
	
	*Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded
	from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.
	The change in the resource element of the DEL arises from Machinery of Government (MoG) transfer of the Government Social Research Unit to HM Treasury and the Whips Offices (Lords and Commons) to the Privy Council Office. The resource implications are £2,097,000 and £914,000 respectively. Other outward transfers include the baseline for the Parliamentary Counsel Office to other Government Departments. Inward transfers include £389,0000 from the Department of Trade and Industry to fund the Equalities Review, £335,000 from various Government Departments to fund protective security measures relating to State and Government assets in central London and End Year Flexibility draw down of £7,900,000.
	The change in the capital element of the DEL arises from the transfer of £20,000 capital as part of the MoG transfer to the Privy Council Office and £1,110,000 as part of the MoG transfer of Government Car and Despatch Agency to the Department for Transport. There is also a transfer of £557,000 to Her Majesty's Government Communications Centre for the provision of a new building and infrastructure at Hanslope Park.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Lord Carter's Review of Legal Aid Procurement

Bridget Prentice: My right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, has made the following written ministerial statement today.
	"Since 5 July 2005 Lord Carter of Coles has led a review of legal aid procurement.
	Today Lord Carter published his interim report—"Procurement of Criminal Defence Services: A Market Based Approach to Reform".
	I am very grateful to Lord Carter for the excellent progress he has made. I am also grateful for the continuing support and active engagement with the Carter team which both the Bar Council and Law Society have given. I am looking forward to Lord Carter's final report containing a worked through and fully costed implementation plan for delivering a procurement system that achieves maximum value for money and control over spending while ensuring quality and the fairness of the justice system".